not to press it upon them all at once, but gradually to set forth before them Christ and Him crucified, and to pray for the Holy Spirit to apply it to their hearts aud souls. Last week I received a letter from a friend of mine, Mr. Ract, the Spanish Missionary in Gibraltar, in which he says that the Testaments and tracts I left with him for the Jews are doing some good among them. He tells me of a circumstance that occurred, to encourage the distributor of Christian books, viz., that a few days ago he had to employ a varnisher, who happened to be a Barbary Jew, whose eyes caught a Hebrew New Testament on the table; he took it up and read it, then he asked Mr. R. to make him a present of it. After he left, several more Jews came for tracts. On the Sunday following the same were seen by Mr. R. in the courtyard, sitting in a group and reading the New Testament verse by verse, each one in his turn, with great curiosity and interest. It is very satisfactory to know that the Lord does graciously supply in that place the absence of a Missionary in His own way. HULL. Ar home we are enabled to offer equally encouraging recitals from Hull, and from London, where, in addition to the visitation of Mr. GELLERT and Mr. SALMON, Mr. FURST has a number of Jewish young men under instruction every evening. Mr. MOMBERT writes from Hull : Since I wrote last, many interesting cases have come under my notice. I have sought and found frequent opportunities of intercourse with my brethren according to the flesh, and trust that the Gospel seed cast forth will, in God's own time, yield a plentiful harvest. Intercourse with Emigrants and Visitors. I have altogether conversed with thirty of this class, mostly from Germany and Poland. Without exception, I have found them ready to listen and argue about Christian topics, which, of course, is one point gained. On the whole, they are very ignorant respecting the New Testament Scriptures. Excepting five or six German Jews, with whom I have come in contact, they knew nothing of Christentertaining the most confused ideas about the attributes of God, and the relation of man as a sinner to Him. They ignore even the idea of vicarious sacrifice, and, strange to tell, I find that even many professing Talmudists have most distorted and untenable views of the Messiah. There is one thing which I have often noticed, and which fills me with great hopes about the conversion of Israel. It is the remarkable aptitude with which the Jewish mind lays hold of the doctrines of the New Testament, if once a single ray of the Sun of Righteousness has pierced the chaotic mass of rabbinical lore, which incubus keeps the soul of Israel in fear and anguish. It is by no means an uncommon thing that a Jew, who, when I addressed him first, betrayed a profound ignorance of Gospel themes, will, if by Divine grace enabled to enter into the spirit of the elevating and enlightening truths of the Gospel, bring forth most beautiful illustrations from the Talmud in support of the truths announced to him: he seems like a slave, earnestly striving to burst the fetters and shake the thraldom of superstition from him. I have had many delightful conversations with such brethren, and have found them willing to accept the Scriptures and tracts. In this way, I have distributed some thirty Bibles and New Testaments, chiefly German and Hebrew. Domiciliary Visitation.-The Jewish families with whom I am acquainted have not been neglected. I have visited them at stated times, and proclaimed to them Christ. Considering that they are very poor, with hardly any knowledge, I have every reason to be thankful for the interest they evince in me, for the marked deference and respect they pay me, and the attention they bestow upon the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You will rejoice to hear that many Jewish children, whose parents are still unconverted, attend Christian schools. This may be a great blessing. I record one instance which illustrates the way in which God is pleased to attract adults to Christ through the praise which is paid to Him by infant lips. A poor Jewish bootmaker was induced to send his children to school; it was a national school. Amongst other things, the children were taught to sing beautiful hymns. One of them was, "Here we suffer grief and pain." The dear little girls used to sing it at home, and awakened thereby the desire on the part of their parents to inquire into the hope of Heaven, "where we meet to part no more." The parents read the New Testament, and I believe them to be convinced of its truth. Is this not encouraging? Inquirers. I have had several young men calling upon me regularly for religious instruction. The one is a traveller, and still a Jew; he has regularly called upon me when he came to Hull. I have read with him many portions of the Bible, and was delighted to find that God has in mercy filled him with love to the Redeemer. He is the same young man whom I met ten months ago at Scarborough. Poetry. THE WARRIOR OF ZION. "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice: with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion."-ISAIAH lii. 8. COURAGE, O Christian warrior, Thy Captain sees thy toil, Where Lebanon's stately cedars Their lofty branches wave, O there proclaim that Gospel With gladness on thy head. For thy pilot and thy guide; Of heaven's better land, Gatherings. We are poor, and may sometimes have felt a momentary disappointment when, on the offer of a donation or the announcement of a legacy, we have discovered that it was intended for a sister institution; but we have honestly, and with fraternal affection, too, passed it on. We do not infringe on this principle when, in all tenderness of conscience, we lay hands on literary productions intended for others, reckoning all that illustrates or recommends the cause of Israel's conversion the property (with certain acknowledgments) of all who seek their welfare. In this view we present the following striking and appropriate extracts from the last annual sermon for the London Society, by the Rev. G. Fisk, LL.B.: "I beseech you who sit at the helm of the Christian institution, on behalf of which I plead, to understand well the gravity of your position. and the weight of your peculiar duties. Seek wisdom, seek grace; and exercise far and wide the influence which wisdom and grace will bestow on you. Let the striving prayerfulness of your deliberations, and the spiritual sagacity of all your movements, be known and felt by all men who know of your existence, and of the work towards which your faith, love, and diligence are directed. Hold fast to the Scriptures of truth. Turn not to the right hand or to the left. Tread not even on the confines of speculation. You have to do with the Jew, as a fact:-with the remnant, as a fact; with the final salvation of all Israel, as a fact; and therefore your path of duty lies far off from the regions of speculation. To study prophecy wisely is not to speculate; therefore study prophecy study it with all due diligence. Let the plumb-line of your faith fathom as much of its deepest depths as the grace of the Holy Spirit may enable you; and the deeper you go, the more clearly will you perceive the Jew as he stands in the purpose of Jehovah. Let nothing daunt or discourage you. If the Lord's work is to be done, He will provide means for the doing. Let the presence of God the Holy Ghost be ever invoked to guide your deliberations and to govern your acts, and all will be well. But surely this is a day in which nothing can be well done without a simple and most determined spirituality of mind. The influences for evil are all abroad, and error puts on its parti-coloured garments; and the spirit of the age is big with utterances, all indicating that the time is short, and that the day of Israel's salvation and glory is not far distant. Could our buried fathers, whose faith and zeal first went forth towards the Jew, have beheld what we behold, and felt what we ought to feel, even their burning zeal would have gathered fresh warmth, and their holy determination of purpose would have gathered a daily increase of force. Oh, then, let us not be backward. And on you, my Christian brethren, who, though not actually engaged in the responsible management of the institution, are convinced of the spiritual nature of the work in which we are enlisted, and are helpers-on of our endeavours,-on you let me press the exhortation, that you make the cause of the Jew a matter of personal concern; and do not think and surmise how little, but believe how much the welfare of that people, both in the remnant and in the aggregate, may depend upon the individual intercession, and the individual endeavour, of the earnest, loving, and devoted Christian heart. Think of the honour of being instrumental-by prayer and intercession, and the contribution of such worldly substance as God condescends to accept-to the bringing in of one poor Jewish heart from the bondage of the law, and the shadowy delusions of rabbinism, into the faith, and liberty, and blessedness of the better covenant. Vast is the field of labour which lies before us; and every gracious indication of mercy towards the Jew-every prediction and every promiseshould sound like a trumpet in our ears, commanding us forwards, and cheering us as we go. * * * "I cannot force myself in a persuasion that there are any here on this solemn occasion altogether ignorant of, or adverse to, the Jewish cause. But if there be one, and only one, I would, for the sake of that one, add a word of warning, which, by the power of the Spirit, may also reach the hearts of others who are cold and indifferent. Let it be remembered that the cause of the Jew is bound up with that of the Gentile. 'For there is no difference between the Jew and Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How, then, shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.' Brethren, can we listen to such words as these-beholding the Jew in his desolation-and take to ourselves the comfort of a saving interest in Christ for our own souls while we neglect the Jew? What is your Bible worth to you, if you fail to behold in it the state and prospects of God's ancient people, themselves a standing miracle witnessing to the truth of every thing beside set forth to us in that venerable and sacred record of the mind of God? What is the worth of your Christian profession if it does not lead you forth into the paths of Christian duty, with a prophet's fervour and a martyr's determination? What is Christ to you, if you care not for a people-His own flesh-around whom His human heart entwined itself, even when they were crying, 'Crucify Him, Crucify Him!' and when the nails were tearing Him, and the shadows of death were gathering around Him? Verily a religion of sentiment, without the power, will avail you nothing. If its power have become supreme in your heart, you will care for the Jew; you will give the God of Israel no rest till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth; you will not relax the endeavour of faith and hope, till either death shall close your career on earth, or you behold the fulfilment of the prophetic word: 'And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God' (Isaiah lxii. 2, 3)." CONTRIBUTIONS IN AID OF THE SOCIETY Among the contributions kindly forwarded to us since the last list, we have been very much gratified to find some from the young-even from children-and some from fellow-Christians in very lowly walks of life. Mr. Targett Taylor has voluntarily engaged in visiting and addressing Sunday Schools, and has handed in some free- will offerings, and we hope has also succeeded in awakening a spirit of thought and prayer in the dear children on behalf of Israel. We have also much pleasure in noticing some contributions in thankfulness for the late harvest. THE MONTHLY DEVOTIONAL MEETING will be held as usual at No 1, Crescentplace, Blackfriars, on Wednesday Evening, November 18, at 7 o'clock. The meeting is open to all friends of Israel, London Published by JOHN SNOW, 35, Paternoster Row. Prinfed by Charles Adams and William Gee, at 23 Middle Street, West Smithfield, E.C.-No. 143-November 1, 1857. The Jewish Herald, AND RECORD OF CHRISTIAN EFFORT FOR THE SPIRITUAL GOOD OF GOD'S ANCIENT PEOPLE. 44 PUBLISH YE, PRAISE YE, AND SAY, O LORD, SAVE THY PEOPLE, THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL." PUBLISHED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL AMONG THE JEWS. THE time was when Israel had its mission, and that the highest and the holiest. The depositaries of the Divine law, the witnesses of Divine power and grace, prophets, and sons of prophets, it was theirs to enlighten the world. From them proceeded all spiritual influence. Separated and hedged about in order to be kept pure and uncontaminate from heathen defilement, God had set them apart to be His messengers to the nations. Up to a certain point in their history that influence continued, and then it ceased. Is it not to read history correctly when we add, up to a certain period their mission continued, and then it passed from them? That period was the death of Jesus. After that, He that had opened, closed their temple; He that instituted sacrifices, abrogated them; He that had given Palestine, took it away; He that had sent them forth missionaries, employed them no longer. Let us not dispute, let us look at this historical fact: their place was henceforth occupied by the Church, by the despised Nazarenes, by the emissaries of that cross which was a stumbling-block and foolishness. Cheerfully do we grant that the religion of the New Testament is none other than the development and the realisation of that of the Old. But this very circumstance only proves that what was de facto, was de jure also, and that those who leavened the world were the real successors of the prophets on whom fell their mantle, and devolved their mission. Once more, then, history is the clearest evidence of Chris, tianity. But, though their mission is gone, the Jewish people still continue, VOL. XII.-NEW SERIES, VOL. III. |